Benny & Joon Press Kit - April 16, 1993

BENNY AND JOON: ABOUT THE CAST

MARY STUART MASTERSON (Joon Pearl) got an early start on her acting career and has barely had a break since.

Born into a theatrical family headed by her father, director Peter Masterson and mother, actress Carlin Glynn, she made her film debut in The Stepford Wives at the age of seven. She has continued to study acting throughout her life, primarily in New York City, and spent two summers at the Sundance Institute working as a resource for budding filmmakers. Today, for "tune-up," she studies sensory work with Gary Swanson.

Masterson's first major film roles occurred in Some Kind of Wonderful, opposite Eric Stoltz, and At Close Range, starring Sean Penn. More recently, she starred in the acclaimed hit Fried Green Tomatoes and Immediate Family, for which she won the National Board of Review's Award for Best Supporting Actress. She can currently be seen starring in Married To It, with Beau Bridges and Ron Silver, and includes among her additional film credits Heaven Help Us, Mr. North, My Little Girl, Chances Are, Funny About Love and Gardens of Stone.

The actress has also enjoyed a successful stage career, primarily in and around New York City, and is a member of New York's Actors Studio. She has appeared off-Broadway in such plays as Lily Dale, The Lucky Spot and Been Taken. She recently starred with Frances McDormand and Linda Hunt in Princeton, New Jersey's production of Chekov's Three Sisters. On television, Masterson's credits include a guest role on the series Amazing Stories and the telefilm Love Lives On.

Masterson has just completed writing her first screenplay, which she hopes to direct next year.